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Holy Revelation
Holy Revelation, also referred to as the Supper of Goodness, the Supper of the Spirit '''or the '''Most Holy Sacrifice of Gratitude, is the central Sacrifice of the Hosian faith, celebrated in some form in all Hosian Churches despite doctrinal differences over its significance. The Sacrifice recalls the Last and First Suppers of Eliyahu with his Twelve Disciples surrounding his Exile to hell, and is regarded as a memorial of this redeeming exile and return of the Spirit of God. It involves bread and wine consecrated to be consumed by the faithful, who are brought closer to God in some way by its agency (hence the name "Holy Revelation"). There exists in the Hosian Churches a significant difference of opinion over the true significance of Holy Revelation. On the one hand, the Patriarchal Churches maintain the doctrine of the True Revelation or True Presence, in which Eliyahu's essence is regarded as being truly present in the signs of bread and wine, which from the consecration onwards gain the essence of His body and blood. Understood in this fashion, the Sacrifice becomes literal Revelation of the Spirit of God, and fosters a mystical union between God and the faithful. On the other hand, the various churches formed after the Luthoran Abjuration (though not the Luthorans themselves, who hold fast to the doctrine of True Revelation), headed by the Ameliorates, reject this True Presence, holding that the Supper of Goodness (as they refer to it) is merely a memorial commanded by Scripture, and an act of faith which predisposes them towards the Revelation of God. Names Although "Holy Revelation" or "the Revelation" is the term most employed by theological scholars to describe the Sacrifice, it has a variety of other names depending on the tradition. Among the Patriarchal Churches, the celebration of Holy Revelation is popularly referred to as "Mass" (from the concluding words "Ite Missa Est"). Fornally, the successors of the Holy Apostolic Hosian Church have always referred to its by its formal name as "the Most Holy Sacrifice of Gratitude". "The Gratitude" is the preferred shorthand way to refer to the Sacrifice itself, whereas "Revelation" is the practice of being administered the Sacrifice. "The Sacrifice", without specification, is used to refer to the consecrated bread and wine. Names referencing a "supper" are favoured by low-church Luthorans and Ameliorates, who reject the doctrine of the True Revelation. The term "Supper of the Spirit" is self-explanatory, whereas "Supper of Goodness" is an Early Church term for the Sacrifice celebrated in the context of a meal. Gratitudinal Theology The theological consideration of the significance of the Sacrifice of Holy Revelation is often referred to as "gratitudinal theology". Treatments of several schools in this theology follow. True Revelation The doctrine of the True Revelation is classified as dogma within all Patriarchal Churches, both Aurorian and non-Aurorian. It holds that through the agency of the Spirit working through the Light of God, the bread and wine are truly changed into the body and blood of Eliyahu Hosios, who is thereafter truly present. In this fashion, the Spirit and through Him God (under binitarianism) is truly revealed to the faithful partaking in the Sacrifice. The significance of the True Revelation is threefold. First, it allows an "immolatory" view of the Sacrifice, in which the exile of Eliyahu is repeated liturgically and the sacrifice of His body and blood in Hell made anew for the remission of sins. Second, it results in a sort of mystical unity between the Spirit and the faithful, strengthening the gifts of faith. Third, it results in true sharing in the Spirit, forming one body out of the many faithful attending the Sacrifice. In some churches, the True Revelation doctrine has additionally given rise to the practice of Gratitudinal Adoration, the adoration of the reserved Sacrifice. Consubstantiation The mainstream view held by the Western Patriarchal Churches concerning the metaphysical reality of the Holy Revelation is that after consecration, Eliyahu's essence is truly present alongside ''bread and wine, as the terms "body and blood" are taken to refer to body and blood of the Spirit, and therefore constitute a spiritual rather than a corporal body. Luthoran view of the True Revelation Martyn Luthor valued and reaffirmed the True Revelation doctrine, but rejected the Patriarchal Church's attempts at a rational explanation and persistent revelation. According to his teachings, the True Revelation existed only in the context of the Mass. From the moment of consecration, Eliyahu is "truly Revealed" in the Sacrifice, but His presence is inferred from this. Because of this, all the bread and wine left after the service are consumed immediately by the ministers. Memorial Revelation According to the Ameliorate Churches, the doctrine of the True Revelation is idolatrous. They hold that the words of institution should not be taken literally, but as a commandment to remember the sacrifices made in Hell during the First Exile of Eliyahu. According to the gratitudinal theology of the Ameliorate Churches, the Supper is a memorial and an act of faith, to be taken infrequently so as not to detract from its significance. Typically, fidelity to scripture requires that the Supper, when it is observed, be observed twice, once after and once before the Service of the Word, mirroring the First and Last Suppers, with a three-day fast in between the two. Liturgy The liturgy with which the Revelation is celebrated has several commonalities, even among those churches subscribing to the doctrine of Memorial Revelation. Among them is the occurrence, somewhere around the celebration of the Sacrifice, of the words Eliyahu spoke to his disciples according to the Annunciation, declaring the wine and bread to be his body and blood. The wine is distributed first, the bread second, as in the Annunciation account of the Last and First Suppers. The Lord's Prayer is also commonly said surrounding the Holy Revelation, most commonly before the administration of the bread and wine. Among the Patriarchal Churches and High-Church Luthorans, we find some more common elements. In these churches, characterised by the doctrine of the True Revelation, the bread and wine are consecrated in a lengthy Gratitudinal Prayer based on ancient church tradition, consisting of an opening dialogue ("Lift up your hearts"), a preface, the Sanctus, a thanksgiving prayer, followed by the Words of Institution, an Anamnesis and intercessions, concluded by a doxology. Incense and bells may be used. A distinctive element of the high-church Gratitudinal liturgy is the practice of veiling the chalice of wine and the paten with the bread each with a special liturgical veil known as the Obscurarium after the Offertory, before the Gratitudinal Prayer is begun, which is removed by the celebrant as he elevates the consecrated elements after the Words of Institution have been spoken under elaborate ceremonial instructions. This symbolises the literal Revelation piercing the Great Hiding of Elijah, thus shielding the miraculous transformation of wine and bread into blood and body from the eyes of the world. Aurorian Patriarchalism ''See also: Aurorian Patriarchal Mass and Missale Aurorianum